Written by Scott Rabalais at The Advocate
How will we remember the Leonard Fournette years at LSU?
With a handful of signature bulldozing, strongman performances, obviously, pounding opposing defensive backs and linebackers into the ground like tent stakes.
With the 2015 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision rushing title, probably. He was the first LSU back to achieve such a milestone and the first in Southeastern Conference history to lead the nation since 1949. It’s a claim SEC greats like Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson and 2015 Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry can’t make.
Forever LSU, Forever Buganation pic.twitter.com/sdkN0JaonF
— 7⃣ Leonard Fournette (@_fournette) December 5, 2016
And he’ll be remembered without a scandal dragging down his legacy like an anchor, fortunately.
But the Fournette years will be remembered for something else, something he will have in common with some of LSU’s other sporting greats like Pete Maravich and Shaquille O’Neal and Ben McDonald and Ben Simmons.
He will leave without a national championship, or even a trip to one of the College Football Playoff’s “Big Six” bowls. He will leave without a Heisman Trophy, or even a trip to New York as a Heisman finalist. This even though college football’s biggest individual prize seemed his preordained destiny to win midway through the 2015 season.
“Things,” Fournette said in a statement Monday announcing his intentions to enter the NFL draft, “didn’t go as planned.”
Fournette never even got a running start at the Heisman this season, suffering a dreaded high ankle sprain in August during a preseason drill. The injury turned Fournette’s third and final season with the Tigers into one of fits and starts and frustration. Reinjured over and over, it was almost surprising that he indicated in his statement that he intends to play New Year’s Eve in the Citrus Bowl against Louisville.
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